Between Friends

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Kathleen and Elizabeth had been friends since childhood. Both of them moved from New York when they were in their teens, to South Florida. Their brothers were about the same age as each other and met in school. The girls, meeting each other through their brothers, also became fast friends.

The beach was their playground, bringing their beach umbrellas with them whenever and however they went, sometimes riding their bikes. Sometimes they walked. Barefoot, together they figured they covered the entire city they lived in, at least twice over. The land was theirs. They spent so much time at the beach, they would always park their umbrellas near a tall Coconut tree. There, they would sit and soak in the sun, talking about anything and everything. For amusement, after a storm when the coconuts dropped, the girls would bring along their beach bag that they shared. In it was a screwdriver and a hammer. Both girls would sit under their umbrellas at the beach. They would take one of the coconuts that had fallen and shake it to see if it was ripe, and then take turns trying to open it. This would sometimes take hours. There was a method to this you see. One girl had to hold the coconut and hold a screw driver on top of it, while the other would take a hammer and bang on the screw driver. The hardest part was the outer core. After you got it opened to a certain point, both girls would have to pull on each end, until they pulled it apart exposing the coconut itself. Three holes in the top. Again, they'd take their handy hammer and screwdriver poking two holes so they could take turns drinking the milk out of it, before having that final challenge of getting that coconut open as they did with the outer shell.

As life goes, both grew up and went separate ways. Kathy ended up on one side of the United States, and Elizabeth ended up on the other. One would have thought either one or the other would have moved back to where they originally came from. Kathleen was married twice, the last time to a logger from Lubbock, Texas and Elizabeth married a ski instructor from Bennington, Vermont. "Ah...those were the days!" They would often say to each other over the phone.

"Remember those beach umbrella's we had? I still have mine!" Elizabeth joyfully shared with Kathy as she recounted their memories together.

"I have mine as well! It will forever be cherished." Kathy echoed with glee.

And so it was, through the years the two girls who were now women and mothers, kept in touch by writing and phone. Whenever each one would open their closet doors, there would be that umbrella, both with the same array of bold colors. Forever to be cherished, as well as their friendship no matter how many miles between the two friends.

Word Count: 491